Image sensors may acquire information regarding the composition of a scene either as still images or as streams of video.
Decreasing the size of each pixel region in an image sensor provides a means to acquire an increased amount of information (increased spatial resolving power) for a given image sensor die area, which typically corresponds to increased information for a given cost of the integrated circuit (since cost typically scales with die area).
In light of the interest in increasing imaging performance while keeping cost under control, there is considerable interest in devices and methods that enable small, high-quality pixels on an imaging integrated circuit.